Album: Highway 61 Revisited
Artist: Bob Dylan
Year: 1965
Information: A revolutionary album released in
1965. When you look around at the other artists at this time, Bob Dylan had
left everyone in the dust. Even The Beatles, who were being heavily influenced
by him at this time, leading to the creation and sound of Rubber Soul, were
completely left behind. This album was released in the middle of perhaps the
greatest trilogy of albums released by any artist, only rivaled by "Rubber Soul," "Revolver," and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and possibly Jimi Hendrix.
High Points: We'll start at the beginning. The very first seconds of
"Like a Rolling Stone" has a snare shot that Bruce Springsteen
eloquently described as "kicking open the door to your mind." Over
six minutes of condescending greatness, the first song is an all-out attack on
an unnamed person who fell from the world's graces. Bob's young, rebellious
sneer is never stronger than it is on this song is and it never fails to
capture my attention and hold it the entire, raucous six minutes. The other
high point is at the end of the album, "Desolation Row." An eight
minute folk song that references everything from Casanova, Einstein, Dr. Filth,
and Cinderella.The song hearkens back
to Dylan's folkie days, where he is alone with his acoustic guitar and harmonica, with the
exception of another musician playing latin-style riffs on top of his
strumming.The song spins the tale of an apocalyptic day filled with murderous
super heroes and the sinking of the Titanic.
Low Points: There is one song that I don't like as much as the others,
which is "Queen Jane Approximately." I believe this is usually
regarded as the least impressive song on this album, so that should be no
surprise to fans of this album. The song is a tad boring, however it does have
nice lyrics (which Dylan is ultimately known for,) that tell a similar story to
"Like a Rolling Stone," but it has a more apathetic relationship with
the subject, even inviting the person to "come see me, Queen Jane."
Is it Great? I'll go with what Phil Ochs once said of this album
"How can a human mind do this?"
I will be honest. I pray at the altar of
Robert Allen Zimmerman. This man is my musical god, and if I would ever attempt to make
music, this is the man I would aspire be like. So, my review is definitely biased to
some degree, but it's hard to overstate how fantastic this album is.
---
I personally believe that Dylan's song
"Like a Rolling Stone" is actually aimed at himself, rather than
someone like Edie Sedgwick. I base this idea in the fact that Dylan frequently
says that person fell from grace, which recently happened to him. When he played his first electric set at the Newport Folk Festival, it backfired heavily, leading to a large portion of fans starting to boo and even leading to one magazine that had held him in high regard was now heavily
criticizing him. He then talks about having to "live out on the
street" and how's he "gonna have to get used to it." Dylan never
really faced criticism before, only mild indifference facing his debut album.
Now negative press surrounded him and he had to learn how to deal with it. He
went from being the "voice of a generation" (a title he loathed) and
having everything in the palm of his hand to being kicked around by his former
admirers and colleagues.
Something that I quite enjoy from another concert is that someone, two people take credit for this, shouted out "Judas!" (being a biblical reference.) Dylan shot back at him, saying "I don't believe you.... You're a liar." He then looked back to his band and said "Play it fucking loud," leading into "Like a Rolling Stone " (which could also support my theory of how the song is aimed at himself.) Just another reason why I
admire him so much.
---
"Tombstone Blues" and "From
a Buick 6" are both powerful blues rock songs that were certainly
precursors to garage rock, the second one having an opening snare shot similar
to that of "Like a Rolling Stone." "Tombstone Blues"
contains shots at society and authority figures, such as the president. At one
point, he tells of the president pointing towards the sun and claiming
"the sun's not yellow, it's chicken," and at another point he's
"chasing a fly," painting societal leaders as idiotic.
The two slower songs, "It Takes a Lot
to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" and "Just Like Tom Thumb's
Blues," are both a bit similar in sound, but very different lyrically.
"It Takes a Lot to Laugh..." is thought to be an allegory for someone
who is sexually frustrated, which make the lyrics for an interesting read.
"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" is a great song about a man who's
exhausted all his luck and opportunity down in Mexico. He encounters
prostitutes, corrupt authority figures, drugs, sickness, and at one point,
saints. He finally hits bottom and decides that "I'm going back to New
York City, I do believe I've had enough."
"Ballad of a Thin Man" is
another superb song with great accompanying piano. It tells the story of a
clueless business man who finds himself in several situations where he has no
understanding of what is happening around him. The song is also critical of his
naivete, such as when the sword swallower says "Here is your throat back,
thanks for the loan," giving one the idea that the business man frequently
has things shoved down his throat, whether that be foreign ideas or something
completely different is your call. On that note, the song has a lot of sexual
imagery, such as the "one-eyed midget."
The last song to mention is also one of
the stranger ones. "Highway 61 Revisited," which shares the name of
the album, makes interesting use of a
police whistle and tells a myriad of stories. One for example, is of a
bored gambler who wants to start a new world war. So, he goes to a promoter who
tells him to put bleachers out in the sun on Highway 61. Another is the story
of someone who appears to be royalty and complains to her fourth father that
her complexion is very pale. So the fourth father plans to tell the second mother,
but the second mother is with the seventh son. You get the picture.
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